All-Star Game

The Rundown: City of Stars

As if it being Friday wasn’t reason enough to celebrate, it’s also an all-star weekend in the world of sports.

 

You’re always an all-star in our eyes,

The Last Night’s Game Team

Tennis

  • A family affair. Venus and Serena Williams will take their sibling rivalry to the Australian Open finals early Saturday morning (3:30 am EST). The sisters played each other in the 2003 Australian Open finals and Serena took home the win.
  • Old guys rule. Roger Federer claimed his spot in the Australian Open finals on Sunday (also at 3:30 am EST). At age 35 he is the oldest player in the finals since 1974.

NHL (National Hockey League)

  • Star struck. The NHL goes Hollywood with their all-star game in Los Angeles this Sunday. The all-stars will play in a three-on-three tournament (there are typically five players on the ice) with teams from the four different NHL divisions -  Pacific, Central, Metropolitan and Atlantic. The divisions will play each other to determine which one is the best. The winning team receives $1 million in prize money. 

Overtime

  • Massachusetts is home to the Super Bowl bound New England Patriots and a Boston Globe reporter who called Atlanta a city with "absolutely zero enthusiasm for professional sports." The Atlanta Falcons are playing the Patriots in the Super Bowl and one of their fans is fighting back with enthusiasm. He will not sell any Boston made Sam Adams in his Georgia gas station until after the Super Bowl. Kick 'em where it counts.

Sideline stat

  • Kraft Heinz has decided not to fork out the $5 million for a 30 second Super Bowl ad. Instead they started the “Smunday” campaign, a petition to make the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday. They’re putting their money where their mouth is by giving all full-time salaried U.S. employees that Monday off. They claim that 16 million people skip work the day after the Super Bowl anyway, resulting in $1 billion in losses. Care to sign the petition? Here’s the dotted line.

Coaches’ corner

  • Is your life feeling incomplete without football? You can get your fix with the Pro Bowl on Sunday. The Pro Bowl is the NFL’s (National Football League) all-star game and takes place in Orlando, FL. The members of the winning team receive a $61,000 bonus and the losing team a mere $30,000. Here's the full roster in case you're interested.

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The Rundown: Five Things to Know About MLB

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Break out the peanuts, Cracker Jacks and a cold beer (maybe wait until lunchtime on this one) because the boys of summer are back. You’re going to be a baseball expert after reading today’s Five Things to Know.

We’re looking forward to Friday where we’ll have a preview for this weekend’s NCAA Final Four games.

We can barely stand the excitement,

The Last Night’s Game Team

Five things to know about MLB (Major League Baseball)

MLB’s Opening Day is on Monday so in the spirit of the game we bring you all you need to know to join the conversation.

  • The regular season is a long one, 162 games. (In comparison, NBA regular season is 82 games and NFL 16 games). The regular season stretches from April to September. 
  • MLB consists of 30 teams and is divided into the American League (AL) and National League (NL).
  • The game is divided up into nine innings. The visiting team always bats first. (Easy way to remember - they’re the guests…home team uses their manners and lets them go first). “Top of the inning" is the first half of the inning in which the visiting team hits and “bottom of the inning” is when the home team hits.
  • The All-Star Game will be held on July 12th at Petco Park in San Diego, CA – home of the San Diego Padres. The team (American/National) that wins the All-Star Game gains home field advantage in the World Series. 
  • Despite the long season, baseball is the only sport where the season starts and finishes in the same calendar year.

NBA (National Basketball Association)

  • Stand up for your rights. The City of Atlanta asked the NBA to consider moving the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte to Atlanta after North Carolina lawmakers passed legislation that limits protections for the LGBT community. (Refresher - North Carolina Gov. McCrory signed a bill which critics say is discriminatory against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons). The NBA said "thanks but no thanks and hopefully they can work things out before the 2017 All-Star Game." 

  • A little RnR needed. Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul, an important part of Team USA, has announced that he will not participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil because “his body is telling him he needs more time off.”  

Overtime

Sideline Stat

  • In soccer news, USA beat Guatemala (4-0) on Tuesday to keep their 2018 World Cup hopes alive. This win is significant because with a loss Team USA would all but have been eliminated from the 2018 World Cup.

Coaches’ Corner

  • The difference between the American League (AL) and the National League (NL) in Major League Baseball is the designated hitter. A designated hitter (DH) is a player who only bats and does not play a position in the field. He bats in place of the pitcher, but not in the NL where the pitchers have to bat for themselves. Baseball is the only professional sport that has such a drastic difference between the leagues.

The Rundown: Five Things You Should Know About The NBA All-Star Game

Have you recovered from your Super Bowl nacho cheese hangover? Not Cam Newton. He’s still bitter about Sunday and doesn’t care who knows it. 

The NBA All-Star Game is this weekend in Toronto and we’re sharing the five things you need to know to be in the know.

Buzzer beater,

The Last Night’s Game Team

Five things you should know about the NBA All-Star Game

  1. The game will take place in Toronto on Sunday, February 14th at 8:30 pm (EST) on TNT.
  2. Saturday night’s excitement features the much anticipated skills competition, three-point contest and slam dunk competition.
  3. Historically, the coaches of the two teams are from the two teams that played in the NBA Finals the previous year, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.   
    • The Cavaliers fired their head coach who coached in the Finals last year, so new head coach, Tyronn Lue, will coach team.
    • The Warriors head coach Steve Kerr coached in last year’s All-Star Game (no coach can coach two years in a row), therefore San Antonio Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich will lead the West this year. (It’s a little complicated. Here's a full explanation on why). 
  4. Sting will perform during halftime of the game.
  5. This is Kobe Bryant’s last All-Star Game. Despite his declining stats this season he was the fans' leading vote-getter for the game.

MLB (Major League Baseball)

NBA (National Basketball association)

  • Do the time for the crime. Clippers announce forward Blake Griffin will be suspended for four games without pay and then they will hold his pay for one additional game on top of that. Griffin’s suspension stems from his altercation with an equipment manager on a team road trip in January. His suspension will start once he returns in a month from the broken hand sustained in that incident. His five game paycheck is estimated to be $859,442. The fine is considered a charitable donation and will benefit disadvantaged youth in L.A. 
  • No love lost. New York Knicks announce their head coach, Derek Fisher, has been relieved of his duties. Fisher’s record in less than two seasons was not stellar, 40-97 (wins-losses). We’re sure Matt Barnes was ecstatic to hear the news. 
  • Super Shaq. Not to be outdone by the Lakers (who announced last week they were immortalizing him in a statue), Miami Heat announced they will retire Shaquille ‘Shaq’ O’Neal’s #32 jersey at the start of the 2016/2017 season. Shaq played on the Heat from 2004-2008 and won an NBA Championship in 2005-2006 season.

NCAA basketball (College) 

  • Standing on top. Villanova University is ranked #1 for the first time in school history. This is unlikely to last as they are the sixth team to assume the #1 ranking this season, the most ever to this point in the season.

NFL (National football league)

  • Show me the money. A record $132.54 million was wagered on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas sports books. The sports books profited record $13.31 million.
  • #HotRef. A star was born on Sunday at the Super Bowl but he didn’t play in the game. The Pippa Middleton of the game was the head referee, Clete Blakeman. The hashtag #HotRef became a trending topic during Sunday’s game. He even stopped by to visit Hoda and Kathie Lee on Tuesday.

Soccer

  • These boots are made for walking. Fans of the Premier League’s Liverpool staged a walk out of their game against Sunderland at the 77th minute (to signify the 77 euros it cost per ticket) to protest the rise in the price of tickets to the games. The ticket price increase was announced earlier this week to help offset costs of Liverpool stadium renovations. Tickets are expected to increase as much as 30%, although Liverpool announced that 64% of ticket prices will stay the same or be reduced.

Overtime

  • In news that will want to make you put down your morning donut and start doing crunches, the Sports Illustrated (SI) swimsuit cover will be revealed Saturday night. Last year’s honor went to Hannah Davis. SI’s swimsuit issue is making waves this year as it features plus-size model Ashley Graham. 

Sideline Stat

Coaches’ Corner

  • What exactly is involved in the NBA All-Star Game’s skills competition? According to the NBA, the three round competition includes dribbling, passing and shooting. Here’s a highlight reel from last year’s excitement.
 

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